The Thorns Of A Rose
by NekoEddo
Summary: When Kaito and a few others go to the park, their picnic is quickly canceled when he finds an injured boy. After finding out that he has nowhere else to go, Kaito lets him stay at his house, after all, there's only so much that can go wrong, right?Shin 14
1. Found

Hiya! This idea just popped into my head and I decided that I _had_ to write it, so I did! Here ya go! Enjoy!

* * *

Shinichi ran. He felt as though his whole world had just shattered. All positive emotions that he had previously had seemed to have just upped and left him. A fresh wave of tears made their way down his face as his shoes hit the soft grass of a park, he slowed his pace slightly and looked around. He wasn't somewhere he recognized. Good. Making his way towards a small copse of trees in the corner of the park, a vague thought at the back of his mind niggled at him, but he ignored it, his emotional state overcoming any sense of rational thought. He felt upset, betrayed, hurt, empty and shocked, but most of all he felt guilty. Guilty for not knowing that he had made his parents hate him so much that they threw him out. Guilty for not apologizing to them before he left. Guilty for having not told the school that he wouldn't be going there anymore. But most of all he felt guilty because even now, having run miles and miles away from where his old life used to be, he still couldn't understand just _what_ he had done wrong. These thoughts plagued him, circling around in his head as he leant against a tree near the middle of the copse, sliding down until he was sat on the ground, hugging his knees with the rough bark pressed against his back. He rested his head on his knees, trying to push the upsetting thoughts and the pain in his leg from when his mother had gotten so annoyed that she had throw one of the kitchen knives at him, out of his head, hoping that he would just wake up, back in his bed at home, and find out that it had all been one long, horrible dream. But he knew that it was a futile hope, even as the dark realms of sleep threatened to overtake him, he knew, that once he woke up, his situation would still be exactly the same. Completely hopeless.

* * *

Kaito bounced ahead of the small group of people he was with, calling back to them to hurry up. Since he had woken up this morning his day had just kept getting better and better. The teacher had been ill, and none of the replacements that were qualified were able to come on such short notice. A supervisor had been sent in to keep an eye on the class, but they had been a timid person, and had told the class to do whatever they wanted. Of course, for Kaito, this meant a whole day of uninterrupted pranks to play on the entire class. Over half of whom now either had different coloured hair, or their school uniform had been tye-dyed all the colours of the rainbow. As an added bonus, he had managed to break his record of how many times he could piss Hakuba off so much that he shouted in a day. His previous record had been 7 times, but today he had managed a grand total of 12. And so it was with a _very_ smug smirk that he was bouncing.

Aoko had planned a picnic for today, she had invited Kaito, Hakuba (for some unfathomable reason.) and, most confusingly, Akako. When she had asked him to come, Kaito had promptly decided that the small clearing in the middle of a copse in a nearby park would be the perfect place, and, no matter how many other suggestions were thrown at him, he flatly refused them time and time again. In truth he didn't really have a specific reason as to _why_ he wanted the picnic to be there, he just did. For some reason he just felt the urge to go there that day. So, due to Kaito's incessant pestering, that was their destination.

They were now in the park, steadily making their way over the flat, grassy area that would shortly give way to the copse, Kaito still bouncing ahead of the rest. It was only once they were nearing the clearing itself though that things started to go weird.

Kaito had been jogging backwards when Akako suddenly veered sharply to the right, seeming to completely ignore that the copse that was just ahead of them, confused, Kaito had run to her planning to tell her that she was going the wrong way, but before he could get even a word in, Akako cut him off.

"There is an exceedingly mysterious aura coming from this direction." She said, Kaito blinked at the revelation of having discovered yet _another_ form of Akako's powers. After a short moment of internal debate, Kaito decided that if it had caught the witches attention, then it was most likely worth his time as well. He called back to the others to go ahead, telling them that he would catch up in a minute. When he turned back round he broke into a run, noticing that Akako was almost out of his line of sight. He almost ran headfirst into her back when she stopped suddenly, causing him to backpedal and fall over. 'I'm going to have to work on that so that nothing like that will happen on one of my heists.' He mentally noted to himself, before standing up and craning his neck round Akako to see what held her attention so completely. To his surprise it was a boy, he looked no older than fourteen, and, for some reason or the other, was asleep in a copse.

"He's going to get sick if he stays here." Akako stated. Kaito looked up, confused. It had been sunny only a moment ago. Keyword _'had'_, in the time that it had taken for him to stand up and look at the boy, the sky had filled with dark clouds, and the first few droplets of rain were beginning to fall. 'Looks like we're going to have to skip out on that picnic.' Kaito thought mournfully. It was then that he noticed Akako staring at him expectantly.

"What?" he asked, a little unnerved.

"Well, aren't you going to pick him up then?" She asked. "Because you can't _seriously _expect me to carry one of my own _slaves_." She said, sounding offended by the very thought of it. "And besides, if you look closely, you will see that his leg is bleeding, and quite badly too. Kaito checked, and, sure enough, there was a dark crimson oval on the leg of the boy's clothes. He sucked in a breath, not even _wanting_ to imagine just how much that had to hurt, and crouched down, hooking the 'eerily similar to him' boy's legs around his waist, being careful not to mishandle the injured one, and hoisted him up onto his back. As he left so that he could get the boy to the warmth of his house, he saw Akako flipping out a cell phone and texting Aoko, telling her to tell Hakuba that the picnic would be suspended for today.


	2. Introductions

Shinichi felt his consciousness slowly returning to him, and somewhere in his mind, something registered that he was against something warm, and was moving. 'Ahhh, warm.' He thought, letting his mind embrace the heat. 'Wait... warm?' His eyes shot open and he frantically looked around, trying to determine where he was.

"Whoa, whoa, you'd better stop moving buddy or i'm going to fall over, and that wouldn't be good for either of us." Came a voice from below Shinichi, who promptly jumped and squeaked, causing the person whose back he was riding on to sway dangerously.

"Oh, sorry." He said, staying as still as possible to help the one carrying him regain their balance.

"No problem!" The cheerful - and decidedly male - voice called back. Shinichi gasped as, when the boy tried to jostle him into a slightly more comfortable position, a wave of pain shot up his leg, bringing with it all of the memories from the events that had happened previously.

"Ah, sorry, did that hurt your leg?" The person asked.

"Ah, a little but, but it'll be fine, seriously." Shinichi said, reassuring himself as much as the boy carrying him. Due to all of the running that he had done earlier, the pain had intensified, and was beginning to come across the border line between 'painful' and 'so painful that blacking out right now seems like a good idea.'

"...Ok then." They said, obviously not believing a word of it. "So? whats your name?"

"Ah, sorry, it was rude of me not to introduce myself, i'm Shinichi, and you are?"

"Kaito Kuroba, at your service." The boy said, grinning cheekily at Shinichi. "Shinichi what, anyway? You have to have a second name, right?" Shinichi suddenly found the floor beneath them very interesting, and fidgeted in Kaito's grip.

"Erm, well, I don't exactly. Not anymore at least." Even though the last part was mumbled, Kaito still heard it clearly. Realizing that this was a sensetive subject for the younger boy, he quickly steered the conversation away from it.

"So, any particular interests?" He asked, curious to find out more about this mysterious boy.

"Umm, well, I like making and solving puzzles and riddles." Upon hearing this, Kaito's inner Kid smirked, realizing full well that if he played his cards right, this boy had the potential to become a powerful ally against the Kaitou Kid task force and the annoying blonde detective that came with it.

"Any interest in magic?" He asked, as the metaphorical grin grew wider.

"Yeah, but I never really had the time to learn any." Kaitou noticed that Shinichi sounded rather dejected at his lack of knowledge in the tricks department. His inner Kid's grin was, by now a full blown smirk that did nothing but widen as he proposed an offer to the young boy.

"Well, if you want, I can teach you some stuff, I happen to be very good at magic." He said, not boasting in the slightest. He smiled lightly as he saw the boy's face light up at the prospect.

"Is that really okay?" The boy asked, happily.

"Of course! If it wasn't then I wouldn't have offered it to you, would I?" Kaitou said, a grin similar to the young boy's own adorning his face. He stopped in front of a house. "We're here!" He said cheerfully, looking over his shoulder at Shinichi.

"Umm, excuse me for being rude but... where exactly _is_ 'here'?"

"Oh that's right, I didn't tell you yet did I?" The boy exclaimed. "'Here' is where you'll be staying at least until your injuries have healed." Kaito grinned as Shinichi looked at him in shock.

"Are you sure that's ok? I wouldn't want to be a bother to you or your family." He said, worry clouding his features.

"No problem at all! Don't worry about it, my Mum is a really easygoing person, she just takes everything in her stride, and, if anything, she would enjoy having a third person in the house." Kaito smiled reassuringly at the nervous teen on his back " Trust me, she probably won't want you to leave."

Kaito may have been a grinning idiot at times, but that didn't stop him from noticing the flash of upset that flickered it's way across Shinichi's face before vanishing into oblivion.


	3. Secrets

Kaito watched as Shinichi slept, unable to get to sleep himself quite yet. Shinichi and his mother had gotten along quite well, he thought. Yes, Shinichi had been quite nervous, but that was to be expected of someone who had just been brought into some stranger's house and told that they were going to stay there until a rather nasty knife wound on their leg had healed. Kaito shivered at the thought that, 'what if it hadn't been Akako and I that had found him, what if it had been some pedophile or something?' It hadn't slipped his attention that, even though Shinichi was injured, alone, and had woken up being carried by a stranger that he didn't know, he had been polite and had even given away a small amount of personal information about himself to said stranger, not even asking where they were going until they got there. He decided that he was going to have to have a long chat to Shinichi _rather soon_ about that. Because he was definitely _way_ too trusting for his own good.

* * *

Shinichi woke with bleary eyes, slowly taking in his surroundings and sitting up. Kaito had his head laid on the edge of the bed, arms folded and head laid on top of them while the rest of him was sat on a chair. Shinichi smiled as he got up. Last night, Kaito and his mother had said that he wasn't allowed to walk around for at least a week, and had sent Shinichi straight to bed. With them both asleep right now, no one would be there to stop him from having a look around his temporary home.

So far he had found the bathroom, lounge, hallway, what he guessed was the parents bedroom, and he was just about to go into what looked like the kitchen. After a quick scan around the room, he discovered that he was right and that this was indeed the kitchen. It was then that his eyes fell on one of the knifes, gleaming sharp and malevolent in the moonlight. Shinichi felt panic overtaking his body as memories of the knife that had embedded itself into his leg shot through his mind. He felt his body freeze up, and then he bolted, heading form the room furthest away from the kitchen, ignoring the sharp pain that shot up his leg with every step he took. Once he got into the room, he looked around. It looked like a study of sorts. He leant against a large portrait, but it was too dark to see who the portrait was of. As he placed his weight on the portrait, it started to turn. He was about to jump back when it sped up, throwing him into a mysterious room. He stood up, shocked at his find, what sort of secrets could this family be hiding if they felt the need to have a secret room? He went over to the portrait and pushed against it, wanting to know it it would let him back through. To his horror, it wouldn't. He sat down on the floor in a daze, realizing that he would be here at least until morning. It was - he checked his watch - five hours until seven o'clock at least. Having decided to satisfy his curiosity while he waited, he started to look around.

* * *

Kaito yawned and stretched as he woke up, working out the crick in his neck from sleeping in such an awkward position. He looked over at the bed. And froze. 'Why isn't Shincihi there? Has he been kidnapped? No. Think rationally Kaito, he probably just went to wander around, have a look around, and you will definitely find him. Yes. No doubt about it. He has _not _ been kidnapped. Now. Go and look.' Short internal debate over, Kaito stood from the chair and made his way out of the room as quickly as possible. He checked the lounge, bathroom and hallway. And by the time he had got to the kitchen, he was beginning to panic. He was yet again reassuring himself that Shinichi was perfectly fine, when he saw the knife. 'Oh hell no.' he thought. If Shinichi had seen that, it would have no doubt triggered some _very_ unpleasant memories. Kaito was still unsure as to exactly _how _the boy had got the wound, as he seemed extremely reluctant to talk about it. He shot out of the kitchen and, Since he highly doubted that Shinichi would have run into his mum's room, he went straight to his father's old study. At first glance, noting seemed to be out of the ordinary, but, if one looked close enough, they would no doubt see that a fine layer of dust was missing from a semicircle in front of a large portrait of one Kuroba Toichi.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I really need your opinions, because I'm not sure if I should make this fic a KaiShin romance or a KaiShin family, little help please! Tell me your opinions in a review and I will be _very _happy for the help! Thanks!**


	4. What Do I do?

**Hello everybody! I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long, and with so little explanation too, however, I am back! And I have a chapter on each one of my stories to help get those of you going through exams to brave it out!**

** I'm sorry to say this, but the movie got abandoned, so no links :( I haven't updated in so long because of a mixture of reasons, but the largest one is definitely that I am now in college a year early, and I have my work cut out for me keeping up with everything! As well as that I have had the most massive writer's block on every one of my stories, and completely lost my muse. I just couldn't bring myself to work on any of them. I am very sorry to have left you all so in the dark, and to have not updated for so long, but finally I have managed to produce something :)**

** I know they aren't the best reasons, but they are big to me, and I hope you can all forgive me for my long absence. Updates on stories from now on will be infrequent, as I have a busy summer lined up, and when I am in college it takes up pretty much all of my time, but I will be updating, and I'll do my best to whenever I have the time :)**

* * *

Shinichi clenched his teeth, the pain killer that he had been given the day before had worn off, and, due to his little sprint, pain was shooting like wildfire up his leg. He closed his eyes, curling himself into a ball, hoping that someone would find him soon. As he drifted into unconsciousness, his mind just barely registered the sound of a hidden door opening, and Kaito Kuroba's voice frantically calling his name.

* * *

Once Kaito had realized that the portrait door had been opened in the last 24 hours, he rushed in, just in time to see Shinichi fading into the dark realm of unconsciousness.  
"Shinichi, SHINICHI!" He yelled, in a futile attempt to stop the boy from passing out. He swore under his breath before running over to the boy and picking him up bridal style, making his way back over to the portrait-door and placinghis hand lightly against the hidden sensor pad that activated the door's opening mechanism. He half-ran down the hallway, desperate to get Shinichi somewhere that he would have proper light to check his condition.

Kaitou got to his room and carefully placed Shinichi on the bed, doing his best not to jar his leg in any way, he moved silently and swiftly, clicking the light on and hurrying back to the bedside, hoping with all his might that Shinichi hadn't hurt his leg too badly when moving around. A small voice in the back of his head chided him for getting so attached to someone so quickly, and asked him why, but was quickly squashed with his worry.

Kaito slowly pulled back the trouser leg on Shinichi's leg, careful not to catch it on the wound. He swore under his breath, blood was soaking the bandages he had applied earlier. Shinichi must have been using his leg quite carelessly.

Quietly and deftly Kaito removed the bandage, cleaning the wound as gently as he could before gently winding a new bandage around it. He checked to see if Shinichi was still as soundly asleep as he seemed, and was relieved to find that he was. 'Good' he thought 'heaven knows he could use the sleep.'

* * *

Kaito struggled to get back to sleep that night. Worry gnawed at him that if he did, Shinichi would run off again, and get himself into more trouble. However, Shinichi's health wasn't the only thing on his mind. He had found Shinichi in the secret room, and he would likely remember how he got there, too. The knowledge that someone else, someone new, could know about his fathers room made Kaito sick to his stomach, and weighed upon his chest as though he had a granite block instead of a heart.

Kaito tossed and turned for hours as he thought over what to do. He could lie to Shinichi, tell him that it must have been a dream, and that he had hurt his leg by thrashing around in his sleep, but that wouldn't explain away Shinichi's mysterious new knowledge of the layout of his house, or the potential that he remembered how to enter the secret room.

Even though it was a bad plan, and had so many holes it may as well have been Swiss cheese, it was the best one that Kaito had, and so he decided that he had to go with it. He could potentially explain away the knowledge of the house as some strange form of premonition dream, but he would have to be very careful about his father's room, and would need to add extra security.

Kaito got up, he couldn't sleep anyway, and it would be better to secure the portrait sooner rather than later. "Shit." he swore, under his breath. "I'm so sorry Dad, I never meant to let anyone in."****

OMAKE! (of the paragraph at the very beginning of this chapter!)

Shinichi clenched his teeth, the pain killer that he had been given the day before had worn off, and, due to his little sprint, pain was shooting like wildfire up his leg. He closed his eyes, curling himself into a ball, hoping that someone would find him soon. However, what he didn't expect was HAKUBA THE BRITISH TART to come running in, blabbering on about international criminals while his bird, Watson proceeded to peck at Shinichi's injured leg. 'Well shit.' Shinichi thought.

**I tallied up the reviews I got about whether I should make this a KaiShin or family fic, and the numbers are very close, so I am still unsure what to do, but I do think that the third idea is in interesting one.**

**I will think about it some more, and see if I can come to a decision, and if you want to leave a review telling me what you want then feel free to do so, but I won't beg for them :)**

**If there becomes a very clear winner from the reviews I will go with that, as I want to please as many people as possible, and don't really mind which way it goes. **

**Tally Results:**

**Kaishin=13**

Family=10

Family evolving to romance = 2

**People were also saying I wrote large paragraphs that were difficult to read, so I have broken it down a lot more, I hope this has helped :)**


End file.
